Hamzah Sheeraz was so far from Tyler Denny’s plans that the European middleweight champion agreed to spar him to help his preparations for Austin “Ammo” Williams.
The highest-profile fight of the 33-year-old Denny’s career, on the undercard of Daniel Dubois-Anthony Joshua at Wembley Stadium on September 21, also represents his most dangerous on account of the rapidly improving Sheeraz’s heavy hands.
Sheeraz, 25 and increasingly recognized as Britain’s most promising young fighter, fought and stopped Williams three weeks before Denny defended his title by stopping Felix Cash. Denny even believes that, on account of Sheeraz’s public pursuit of Chris Eubank Jr. and his promoter Frank Warren’s plans to secure him an opportunity to fight for a world title, he may have been fourth in line to fight Sheeraz next.
He first became aware of the prospect the day after the victory over Cash, and while he insists that their sparring session was of too little value to read into, he considers the hype building around Sheeraz to be excessive, and also recognizes that had they realised that they were on course to fight then they likely wouldn’t have agreed to spar.
“I never even thought nothing of it, because he was fighting Ammo [on June 1], and obviously I’m a southpaw as well, so we went up there [to Preston] and sparred,” Denny told BoxingScene. “People say, ‘You can take nothing from sparring’. I think he’d done 10 or 12 rounds before I went in for four rounds. He never really threw that much – I imagine he’d be a lot more aggressive or sharper in a fight.
“It was that pointless of a spar, really. You still get a feel for each other, but from that spar he thinks he can beat me; I think I can beat him. But I couldn’t take nothing from it – it was a nothing spar. Fair play to him. He had five different sparring partners and I was the last to go in.
“His focus was on Ammo Williams, and then I think they were trying to get him a world-title shot; then it might have been [Chris] Eubank [Jr]. I’m well down the list of who they expected to fight. It just works out in weird ways at times – and I still had to do my job of beating Cash. If I didn’t beat Cash, they’re not ringing me to see if I want to fight. I’m guessing I might even have been fourth choice. I’ve just managed to scrape in.
“[Sparring him] just dismisses the hype a bit. They’re just another man at the end of the day. He can be hit, just like everyone else can. I believed that anyway – but when you actually land your gloves on someone, I suppose your confidence might go up a bit. There’s no fear factor for me. But it’s just sparring.”
It was the stoppage of Dmytro Mytrofanov on the undercard of Oleksandr Usyk-Dubois in August 2023 that proved the start of Sheeraz growing in profile. In February he halted the respected Liam Williams in a round in the main event of a promotion also featuring the marketable world-title challenger Anthony Yarde, and in June “Ammo” Williams in what then represented his biggest test.
That Warren opportunistically compared him to Tommy Hearns reflects the growing interest surrounding his career, but for all that Denny can put the challenger’s reputation into perspective, he also conceded that had he been judging their fight as a neutral he would be predicting a Sheeraz win.
“It’s just the norm now,” he said. “I don’t take any offence. If I was looking from the outside in, I’d pick Hamzah for the win as well. He’s had the hype; he’s got the highlight-reel knockout. He’s had the bigger occasions. But ask anyone in my camp and we 100 per cent believe [I’ll win]. I’d have fought him anyway – never mind putting it on a Wembley show and Anthony Joshua and everything. These are just added bonuses.
“He’s impressed me – the Ammo Williams one was a great win. But putting my boxing head on now – someone who’s going to fight him – I don’t really look at them sort of things. I’m more looking at round two [against Williams], when he got clipped with that left hand; I look at when he get dropped against [in 2022, Francisco Emanuel] Torres; the Bradley Skeete fight [in 2021]. I’m more looking for them sort of things. He’s not invincible, and I’m confident, coming off a good win myself, so I’ll be going into that fight 100 per cent confident.
“I never get too carried away. He’s a good fighter. He’s going to face someone else who’s got just as much, if not more, momentum. I keep beating these guys – not many people give me a chance. I believe in myself. You could put me in the ring with anyone and I believe I’m gonna come out on top.
“It’s having Queensberry behind you, and not only that, he’s been an ambassador for Riyadh Season now. You get them people behind you, and that’s where you build the hype. ‘Cause I’m fighting him next, I’m up to build the hype as well. The more hype he gets, when I beat him, it makes me look even better. I’ll win and you’ll have to talk about me in that same breath. He’s done everything asked of him; it’s 14 KOs in a row; he’s 6ft 3ins; for a middleweight he’s got all the attributes. We’ll find out – we’ll put him to the test.”
Denny’s trainer and manager Errol Johnson called him the day after the victory over Cash to inform him of the sudden opportunity to fight Sheeraz. The following day he spoke to his promoter Ben Shalom, and the day after that, having expected a perhaps overdue rest, he was informed that the fight had been sealed and instructed to travel to fulfil his promotional obligations.
“You’d think Hamzah Sheeraz would have had an opponent lined up before three days out,” he said. “On the Sunday, when I got a call about it, it was like, ‘Wow’. It’s mad, really – there was nothing at all about it. Next thing you know, you’re switching back on.
“‘This could actually be happening then.’ I was buzzing – Tuesday night I was in bed, they phoned me. All systems go.
“It’s a good thing [I wasn’t aware, pre-Cash], because you’re not thinking about anything else. Even when I got the phone call on the Sunday, I didn’t really think it was going to happen. They said they wanted to do a press conference on the Wednesday; it never got done ‘till Tuesday night, at half-10. I wasn’t sure what I was doing, then I had a call, ‘Yeah, done deal – you’ve gotta be at Wembley in the morning’.
“In an ideal world, I was looking forward to a nice little break. I had a fight in November [stopping Matteo Signani to defend the European title]; beginning of December they told me, ‘You’re fighting February’. Even at Christmas I never really done much, so I stayed on it, went to Tenerife in January for a camp, and it kept getting pushed back, so I said after this fight, ‘I definitely need a break’.
“When this opportunity comes, you can’t be turning these ones down – it was massive. I was more than happy just to get back on it. My coaches said, ‘Don’t do nothing silly, but rest up for a couple of weeks’. We’re back in [the gym] now.
“It was pure excitement. Hamzah Sheeraz is a good name to be fighting. The better the name, the more it can do for me and my career. If you add on top of that Anthony Joshua undercard, and then put it at Wembley Stadium, it’s, ‘Wow’. I wouldn’t even say it’s a thing of dreams – it’s beyond your dreams. It was a no-brainer. I’ve come back into the gym and I’m buzzing; raring to go again.
“I don’t know him that much, but he’s very respectful. He dropped me some messages before, wishing me good luck, on Instagram. We ‘like’ each other’s stories and that, but the niceness and the respect go out the window when we’re in the ring. But you can’t help but like him – he’s a cool guy. He’s never been disrespectful or anything. He carries himself well. You can see why he’s been an ambassador for Riyadh Season – he’s probably a good role model. But that’s all irrelevant to me now – I picture him as the enemy now, and that’s the mindset.
“I was getting a bit bored [while instructed to rest]. I didn’t know what to do with myself. All year I’ve been training. It’s good to have something lined up; I keep my weight down. I’ve lived the life all year.
“The first week wasn’t a break at all; I went to Sky studios on the Tuesday, and then I come back and I was in Wembley for Wednesday, and then we had to stay down there for a media day on the Thursday. That’s not a break. That’s sometimes more exhausting than training. After that you can sit back and relax – I went to Marbella for a weekend [on a stag do]. I had to be a lot calmer than planned. It was a good little break.
“[Cash] might be looking at that now and thinking, ‘I could have had that fight’. I’m buzzing. You’ve got to take it while you can – these opportunities.”
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